Closet Instead of Crowd
by keotey1228
Summary: What if, in "30 Seconds to Math", instead of Howard pulling Randy into the crowd, he pulls him into a janitor's closet?


"I know you're mad, and you have every right to be- hey!"

Howard shoved Randy through the door. He grabbed his arm in the scramble and keeps running with him trying to keep up and not trip over himself. Howard basically had to drag Randy up the stairs because once Randy lost his balance, there was no getting it back. Howard came upon a split in the hallway. One way was towards the closest way for Randy to run home, and the other was to the rest of the school. He figured going home was Randy's best option.

Howard turned the opposite way and kept running. Howard heard Heidi start talking and he panicked. He turned to the side and opened a janitor's closet. He shoved Randy in before him, who fell onto the floor with a yelp. Howard ran in and closed and locked the door. He grabbed onto one of the shelves and started to pull it in front of the door. He vaguely noticed that Randy was behind him, still on the floor, trying to talk to him.

He didn't answer any of Randy's questions. Once he believed the door was properly barricaded, he turned. Having lost all energy by running and then moving a shelf, he slid to the floor. Randy, who still hadn't got up, crawled over to him and sat in front of him. He at first didn't say anything. He looked around the room as if he were admiring it's beauty.

"What. Are we doing in here?" Then, without moving his head, he looked to Howard. Howard was still catching his breath, but he managed a laugh. "No, seriously Howard" Randy turned to Howard and grinned. "What. Are we doing. In here?" Howard started to hear his sister start singing and he got up and looked around the room.

He saw the small vent on the place where the wall meets the floor. He ducked down and looked through to get an overview of the stage. He saw Heidi singing, but not playing her guitar yet. _Still have time. _

"Howard-"

"Shh." Randy frowned at Howard. "I'm trying to apologize!"

"Save it," Howard slapped his hand over Randy's mouth. "Bad stuff is gonna happen."

Randy smacked Howard's hand of his face and smiled with a smug look on his face. "You mean the Robo-Apes?"

Howard glanced in the vent again and saw the 'M' on Heidi's guitar light up. "I took care of that."

"That's why I Ninja-No-Show'd and-" Howard pulled off some of the cupcake from his ears and started to try and shove it into Randy's. "Why are you cramming cupcakes in my ears?!"

Howard looked into the vent again to see lit-up waves come off his sister's guitar and stared at the crowd as they're eyes turned yellow and their faces blanked. As he looked around, he noticed even his sister's eyes were yellow.

He looked back into the room he was in, noticing the fact that Randy had stopped struggling.

Randy stared with a blank look and yellow eyes towards the vent Howard had been using. He gasped and stared at his friend. He turned towards the vent when he heard the man behind this plan clear his throat.

"Check 2. 1, 2. Check 2," he cleared his throat and then rose his voice for his question. "Who is the ninja?!"

After only a few seconds, Randy sat up straight, put his hand in the air, and exclaimed: "I'm the ninja!" Then quietly, "Why did I say that?"

Howard shoved Randy's arm down quickly and looked into the vent. Looking at McFist's face, he could tell that he didn't hear his friend confess. But when McFist asked the question, getting the same answer, but only louder, he heard.

After looking through the vent, Howard knew that McFist heard by the way he was looking anxiously around the crowd, turning in circles.

Howard pounces on Randy and and strangles him to make sure he couldn't say anything else. Randy did what most people would do and struggled. With all of Randy's Ninja experience, he had the upper hand. Howard knew he couldn't hold him for long.

Eventually, Howard lost his iron grip and quickly knocks Randy out. He frantically ties his friend to the shelf they were next to with whatever janitorial supplies he could use. Because of the lack of rope-like items, Howard covered Randy's body with a few heavy things that would stall Randy, if he happened to wake up, but wouldn't hurt him either way.

While he was working, he heard McFist ask his question a third time, much louder. When his friend didn't respond, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Howard dropped to the floor and looked through the vent. McFist was still searching for the Ninja while everyone else was silent, minus Heidi, who was just about to finish her song. The crowd goes back to normal, and they start to cheer. Heidi holds her guitar up, smiling.

McFist storms away, angry look on his face, with a somewhat nervous Viceroy in tow.

Howard looks back over to Randy, who was still unconscious. He unties him and takes the things off of him, slowly setting all the things back on the shelves. After about two minutes of Howard's rearranging, he looked over to Randy.

He was surprised his hit to Randy's head knocked him out for this long. With a bit of nervousness, he crouched down slowly next to Randy's limp body and felt him for a breath. The reassurance of warm air against his hand made him smile a small smile.

He leans forward and do what comes naturally. He slings his friend over his shoulder and starts to take him home.

...

**Something just occurred to me. What if the reason Howard always makes Randy pay for stuff and Randy always to have money when Howard doesn't is because Randy is rich? We don't KNOW he's not even if it seems like he isn't.**


End file.
